Friday, 11 October 2013

Sunday Brunch at The Cambridge Mill

130 Water Street NorthCambridge, Ontario519-624-1828

In her opinion:Friends of ours suggested getting together for Sunday Brunch at the Cambridge Mill...at first I wasn't sure given the fact that our little man doesn't really like food (a foodie mom's nightmare) and they charge $19 per child. However, avo came to the rescue and volunteered to watch him (I can't justify paying that much for a child when he would have only bread), we agreed! I was actually pretty excited. After all, the Cambridge Mill is the venue that started this Tips Are Included! blog.

Fighting a pretty bad cold, I went in with a good attitude. Our waiter Joey brought us coffee as we waited for our friends to arrive. The coffee was delicious. We also ordered a couple of mimosas (these along with Bloody Marys and Caesars are included in the $41 cost per person).The Sunday Brunch buffet is split up in several rooms with one section containing hot entree and breakfast items and the other rooms containing salads, dessert and seafood. This is what I ate and drank:-prime rib-lime and chili corn-perogies with sauted onions and sour cream-peameal bacon-charcuterie -eggs Benedict with Hollandaise-smoked salmon-mussels-oysters with traditional accompainments with Grey Goose Vodka-different cheeses and crackers-Alaskan king crab legs-strawberry croissant bread pudding-coconut cream tarts-key lime pie-a cappucino-a mimosa-a Caesar (extra spicy)

What she ate and drank.

I would be lying if I didn't say the Cambridge Mill has a beautiful Sunday Brunch spread. The food that I had was very good. It was perfectly seasoned and delicious. I'm sending a huge shout out to whoever makes their perogies (one of the only items not made in-house). These were delectable little pillows of goodness. I also want to say that their "Strawberry and White Chocolate Bread Pudding" topped with Creme Anglais was one of the highlights of my brunch experience. So so good.

Having said this, I will say that I too was a little disappointed. Not in the food or the service. The service was excellent...Joey was an excellent waiter. The food, like a said before was very good. However, the thing that I find disappointing is the value of the experience. It was $82 for two of us plus tax and tip...for the amount of food and drinks that I ate and drank, I can't help but think that it was pretty pretentious. And let's not forget that it costs $19 per child. It is a good special occasion brunch but not realistic as a regular Sunday outing for an average family.

In his opinion:This was our first time here for brunch, having been for dinner a couple other times and blogged about it.
This brunch experience is a treat for Cambridge, there is nothing else like it in the city and allows people to experience good food in a brunch setting, something that has been lacking for many years in this city. Well, we do have Langdon Hall's brunch down the street but that's a whole different level, at least for most people in Cambridge. Let's not forget that this is the city where people populate restaurants like "The Keg" thinking it's a fine dining establishment.
The brunch served is quite extensive, there is food spread out in 3 different rooms with a mix of cold and hot plates and everything in between. In the main hall room you can find the "breakfast portion" of the brunch with the usual suspects like eggs benedict, sausage, bacon, etc.. Beside these hot and ready dishes you can find a couple of ready to order breakfast stations. In these stations you can have made for you on the spot crepes, omelets or eggs any way.

In the next room you can find a good selection of desserts, coffee/cappuccino/latte stations, freshly squeezed juices, some mostly cold seafood and even an oyster bar. Adding to the selection and to please adults and children alike there is also a chocolate fountain and plenty of fresh fruit to dip in it. There is also some charcuterie, a sushi station, breads, cheeses and smoked salmon to name only a few. Like I previously stated, the selection is extensive and for the most part, of great quality.

Armed with my mimosa (included in the brunch price) and some great quality coffee I started doing my rounds, sampling as much as possible and savouring some good dishes. I will attempt to give you the "skinny" on what I loved and/or what I didn't like so much about all that I tried.The Good Stuff: Very good quality coffee and included mimosa/champagne (well sparkling wine) were a great way to start things. There were also juices and milkshakes but I wouldn't know it since sparkling wine is a much closer friend of mine, almost BFF like.

Of the breakfast food section, the crepes were well executed, the eggs benedict were great and the omelets I must say were excellent. The fresh berries and perogies were also highlights of that section, the rest was good not great.in the opposite room the fresh Alaskan Crab (even though it was cold) was very tasty and so were the mussels and gravlox. I was excited to have some oysters and they were good especially with the addition of Grey Goose Vodka as a topping. The selection of cheeses, breads and especially desserts was good, with lots of choices of tasty treats with a bit to please every discerning taste. Lastly. the fresh fruit selection was also quite good. The service also deserves an honourable mention with my coffee cup only awaiting filling once in the whole time there. The cappuccino was also a highlight.

The Stuff That Wasn't As Good:The sushi was extremely disappointing. I know I shouldn't expect much from a brunch selection of sushi but it pails in comparison to the other selections. The oyster station never had more than 3 Oysters available to be taken, not sure if this was from the inefficiency of the shucker or the constant line up of people waiting for them. Overall, not much more to report on this, as the food does speak for itself in most ways.

I deliberately spent my review focusing on the quality of the food and not mentioning the $41 price of the brunch buffet. Although the price is steep, the food is plentiful and one can argue that mimosas, Caesars and sparkling wine included in the price can easily tip the scales on to a positive side.I'm still unsure if a typical family of 4, 2 adults and 2 children would justify going to eat brunch here regularly at the tune of $120 plus tax and tip (roughly $155-$160). It is certainly a great experience and the gorgeous setting has to account for something after all. Comparing it to its sister brunch at Spencer's On The Waterfront, it has more but feels less satisfying.My overall opinion is that if you haven't tried it yet, you should! It's a great experience and the satisfaction chances are very high!

About Me

First and foremost, we love food! We love everything about it...the taste, the way it looks on the plate and the pleasure that it instills. We are foodies in every aspect and we wanted to share our views on food; from the food we have eaten, the restaurants we have visited and useful tidbits about eating in general. ~~We will include helpful links or "tips" to things we feel are beneficial to you, our readers. ~~In her opinion is Julie's views on things. In his opinion is Edgar's views. We write in a classic he said she said way.
~~From time to time we will also be posting "Flashbacks". These are restaurant experiences that we had before we started blogging in real time. Enjoy!!!